Judging from the name, I would suspect that Mukashi no Jutsu is not terribly mukashi.
Maybe someone with better Japanese can correct me, but I'm pretty sure "mukashi" is never used as a modifier; I've only ever heard it as a part of storytelling language, as "mukashi mukashi ni"... (the equivalent of "Once upon a time....")
Regardless of what he's teaching, I'm calling shenanigans on the name.

I always thought Mukashi was a time-noun meaning 'old days' 'ancient times' etc, like 'suiyoubi' would be. Ie suiyoubi ni or mukashi ni would be valid phrases. I think mukashi no bunka would be valid but I'm not sure. Mukashi no jutsu just screams bullshit however because the assertion would be you're selling gendai techniques, and probably pre-Tokugawa ones if you were t3h r34l mukashi. It smells fishy to me.

Lord Krishna said: I am terrible time the destroyer of all beings in all worlds, engaged to destroy all beings in this world; Of those heroic soldiers presently situated in the opposing army, even without you none will be spared.Bhagavad Gita 11:32

Just for Clarity

Hello,

Facts:

1) Mr. Derenzo visited my dojo once.
2) His system is nothing like either of the ones taught at my dojo.
3) I am not judging him or his system, I just don't know why on earth he would compare the two. Kyokushin kai doesn't look like BJJ, but both are excellent systems when taught by legitimate instructors.

Mukashi no jutsu - Doug DeRenzo

User 'sten' wrote in to ask about Doug DeRenzo's art Mukashi no jutsu (www.mukashi.org)

Originally Posted by sten

anyone been to mukashi no jutsu on long island?

He then sent Mr DeRenzo an email asking about the art. In a follow-up, sten posted the following:

Originally Posted by sten

Melch, I emailed and asked who he trained Sanda with. John Yuan, a 5 time World Wushu Gold medal winner in Brooklyn.Sensei Darel Chase,Sensei John Craig , Sensei Howard Popkin for Jiujitsu and Master P. Lan for Ninjitsu. Sensei R. Bryhan, Weapons. Any of these look familiar?

At this point, it should be noted that 'sten' never posted the e-mail reply in its entirety, and has not answered a follow-up question inquiring about the specific context in which the names were mentioned.

Unless my Google-Fu is weak I cannot find any of the other names listed.

These posts attracted the attention of Howard Popkin, who was already familiar with this forum. His first post is as follows:

Originally Posted by Howard Popkin

Hello,

My name is Howard Popkin and I am the co-owner of the Popkin-Brogna Self Defense Center in Franklin Square.

Bottom line here is Doug Derenzo from Mukashi took ONE class in my dojo Let me say that again, one CLASS.

I have never seen what he does in his dojo, nor do I care. This was made a statement of fact. I don't know who gave out that information, but his experience with me was less then 4 hours on a Sunday a last year.

Howard Popkin

ignatzami asked him about his credentials and training history, to which
Mr Popkin promptly posted:

14 Years Daitoryu Aikijujutsu Roppokai - Under Okamoto Seigo Sensei -
Tokyo Japan ( yes, I lived there for a while and then went back and forth)
Yondan
6 years World wind combined Ninjitsu-jujitsu under Kerry Lampkin Sensei(via the Moses Powell/Robert Sugar Crosson Line)
No Rank

Dabble in Karate - James K Roberts Jr - Washington D.C./MD about 5 years
Various judo/juitsu seminars - Wally Jay, Yoneska, Cahil, Depasquale Sr. And Jr., Even rolled a bit with Royce and Rorion at their first visit to the east coast in 92.

Hope that helps !

Howard

(Personal note: I wish all people who come on here would be so forthcoming!)

At this point, it was important to confirm that user 'Howard Popkin' was actually the real Howard Popkin. He provided his contact information which was more than enough for both me and It Is Fake to confirm his identity over the phone.

Originally Posted by Uncle Skippy

I just got off the phone with Howard Popkin and confirmed his identity under the account named "Howard Popkin"

He and I had a nice talk and briefly went over what has been mentioned so far.

Mr Popkin mentioned that Doug DeRenzo had come into a class and trained a single time. Doug mentioned that he had trained under another person and was trying to determine the lineage of that system. After the class, Doug said to Mr Popkin that their arts were very similar.

I am the first to say that I am not the most qualified person to make a judgment on the comparison of the two arts but Mr DeRenzo's videos do not appear to be similar at all to what Mr Popkin teaches.

I'll let Mr Popkin go over details so that I don't put word into his mouth.

Summary: "Howard Popkin" is Howard Popkin.

Originally Posted by It Is Fake

It needs to be noted Mr. Popkins was very cordial and had his class interrupted twice.

I just called him myself to confirm, through a moderator, that these are his posts.

After my initial confirmation of Mr Popkin's identity, he posted the following:

Originally Posted by Howard Popkin

I met Mr. DeRenzo once. Seemed like a nice guy. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HIS QUALIFICATIONS ARE.

The class he took was in a VERY soft system. His movements do not appear to be related to anything that we do.

If anyone is interested in seeing/feeling what we do, please feel free to e-mail or call.

Or. feel free to google me, there are many reviews from my seminars online.
I hope this is over. I really didn't need to be dragged in to this.

I will note here that when I was on the phone with him, Mr Popkin made note of a conversation he had with Doug DeRenzo. In that conversation, Mr DeRenzo stated he had trained in a system for years under another gentleman and was unsure of the roots of that system. Then, Mr DeRenzo told Mr Popkin that their 2 systems were similar based on the content a single class.

Here is another post by Mr Popkin:

Originally Posted by Howard Popkin

Hello,

Facts:

1) Mr. Derenzo visited my dojo once.
2) His system is nothing like either of the ones taught at my dojo.
3) I am not judging him or his system, I just don't know why on earth he would compare the two. Kyokushin kai doesn't look like BJJ, but both are excellent systems when taught by legitimate instructors.

I hope this ends this discussion.

A post by user 'sten' mentioned that Mr Popkin was mentioned because the 2 systems were similar:

Originally Posted by sten

Just to clarify. Sensei Doug didn't say his JiuJitsu teacher was Howard Popkin, he mentioned him as a point of reference to his style, to the similarities to Aiki Jiu Jitsu.

- Howard Popkin stated that Doug DeRenzo trained with him in a single class for 4 hours.

- At that class, Doug DeRenzo told Howard Popkin that their 2 systems were similar.

- Howard Popkin has stated that, based on video evidence on YouTube, the systems are not similar in the least, especially considering that the class that Doug attended was a Soft System class. The videos do not show any such Soft techniques.

- Howard Popkin is in no way associated with Doug DeRenzo's system nor is Doug DeRenzo a student under him.

We are unclear as to why Doug DeRenzo mentioned Howard Popkin in the e-mail since the systems are not similar.

No other people mentioned in the e-mail have been contacted at this point to confirm lineage or to determine why they might be listed in there in the first place.